Fluid diverter assembly



FLUID DIVERTER ASSEMBLY Filed June 20, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 N a: N O

FIG. 2

I5 INVENTORSI B. J. WATKlNS 1 da\ 1 4 I G. D.

H. L. SHATTO, JR.

FIG. and. HT'

THEIR AGENT u u u u WATKINS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORSZ AWJ B- J. WATKINS ET AL FLUID DIVERTER ASSEMBLY 4/ H. (/N C 2 1 I F I 2 a 1 u n 4 4 7d 5 4 474 A? A 6 D Dec. 21, 1965 Filed June 20, 1962 I s WM J. 6 (Z Z I Elli? b l w W H 4 W W H W W THEIR AGENT United States Patent 3,224,505 FLUID DWERTER ASSEMBLY Bruce J. Watkins, West Covina, Glenn D. Johnson, Downey, and Howard L. Shatto, Jr., Palos Verdes, Califi, assignors to Shell ()il Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 20, 1962, Ser. No. 203,968 7 Claims. (Cl. 166-.5)

This invention rel-ates to a drilling wellhead assembly for drilling underwater wells and pertains more particularly to apparatus adapted to be positioned in an underwater wellhead from a remote location for sealing off the annulus between two tubular members in, or adapted to be positioned in, the wellhead assembly.

A recent development in the oil industry is the drilling and producing of offshore wells wherein the wellhead assembly and production flow lines are positioned below the surface or" the water, preferably on or near the ocean floor so as not to be subjected to the major wind and wave forces and be out of the way of boats that may navigate in the area. Most offshore well-drilling operations of this type are conducted from a platform or anchored barge from which various pieces of equipment, used in or on the well, are lowered through the water from the barge to their position near the ocean floor. When operating at water depths or at locations where a diver cannot be employed to assemble the equipment on the ocean floor, it is necessary to provide apparatus that may be lowered through the water from a remote station, and then aligned and connected to other pieces of equipment at the ocean floor.

One method and apparatus for drilling underwater wells is described in copending patent application, Serial No. 118,849, filed June 22, 1961. During the early stages of well drilling operations, it is desirable to close the annulus space between two tubular members of a wellhead assembly so that a fluid, for example, a drilling fluid, being pumped into the well and returned up the annular space between the two tubular members, will be channeled to a suitable discharge port and conduit means whereby the fluid may be returned to a drilling vessel at the surface of a body of water rather than being discharged into the ocean and lost.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a fluid diverter assembly or annular pipe wiper assembly adapted to close the annular space between two concentric tubular members of an underwater wellhead assembly.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fluid diverter assembly adapted to be lowered from a drilling vessel on the surface of the ocean into a tubular wellhead member positioned near the ocean floor and fixedly anchored in the wellhead.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a fluid diverter assembly adapted to be positioned between two tubular members of an underwater wellhead assembly and anchored and sealed in a fluidtight manner to the outer tubular member while providing a resilient seal against the inner member, the inner tubular member being adapted to move axially within the latter seal.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a fluid diverter assembly having a normally retracted outer sealing element which is not subject to damage while being installed in an underwater wellhead.

These and other objects of this invention will be understood from the following description taken With reference to the drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view taken in longitudinal projection illustrating a drilling vessel positioned on a 3,224,505 Patented Dec. 21, 1965 body of water and a wellhead assembly positioned therebelow on the ocean floor;

FIGURES 2 and 3 are longitudinal views, taken in partial cross section, of a portion of the wellhead assembly of FIGURE 1 showing the fluid diverter assembly of the present invention together with an assembly inserting and setting tool by which the fluid diverter assembly of the present invention is positioned in the wellhead;

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal view taken in cross section of the fluid diverter assembly of the present invention illustrated as being positioned in a well with an inner tubular member extending through the diverter assembly; and,

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional View taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, a drilling vessel, barge or platform 11, of any suitable floating or floatable type is illustrated as floating on the surface of the water 12 while being substantially fixedly positioned over a preselected drilling location as by being anchored to the ocean floor 13 by anchor lines 14 and 15 running to anchors (not shown). Equipment of this type may be used when carrying on well-drilling operations or wellworkover operations in water Varying from about feet to 1500 feet or more in depth. The barge or vessel 11 is equipped with a suitable derrick 16 which would be provided with the normal fall line system and hoist used with well-drilling derricks. The vessel 11 is also provided with other auxiliary equipment needed in welldrilling operations, such for example as a rotary table positioned on the operating deck, a hinged slip and spider assembly, pipe handling tongs, etc.

The underwater wellhead structure illustrated in FIG- URE 1 is similar to that which is assembled during the drilling and completion of an underwater well in accordance with the method described in copending application, Serial No. 118,849, filed June 22, 1961. The wellhead assembly includes a large diameter conductor or foundation pipe 26) which is preferably secured in the well by means of cement. The upper end of the conductor pipe 2% is preferably surrounded by a larger diameter housing or pipe 21 whereby the annular space between the pipes 28) and 21 can be fill d with cement 22 in order to strengthen the upper portion of the conductor pipe 20. A fluid or cement return line 23 extends through both the housing 21 and the conductor pipe 20 so as to be in communication with the bore of the conductor pipe 20 thus providing fluid discharge means by which fluid in the well can be returned, preferably by way of a flexible hose 24, to the vessel 11 at the surface. The fluid return line 23 is preferably provided with a break-away coupling 25 whereby the fluid return conduit 23 can be readily disconnected by an upward pull on a cable 26 after the fluid return line 23 is no longer needed. The upper end of the wellhead assembly may have a drilling bonnet 27 attached thereto above which a blowout preventer 28 may be positioned. A flexible joint 3% is preferably mounted above the blowout preventer 28 while a wellhead connector 31 of any suitable type is secured thereto for connecting the lower end of a marine condu tor pipe 32 in a fluidtight manner. The marine conductor pipe 32 extends from the wellhead assembly to the vessel at the surface. During drilling operations, a pipe string 33 having a bit (not shown) at the bottom thereof extends through the marine conductor pipe 32. During cementing operations the pipe string 33 is a cement pipe string, while it may be known as a running pipe string when used for setting the fluid diverter assembly of the present invention the wellhead assembly.

The fluid diverter assembly of the present invention is shown in FIGURE 2 as comprising a tubular housing made up of upper and lower telescoping portions 35 and 36 which are preferably pinned together in their inoperative position as by one or more shear pins 37. The telescoping movement of the upper tubular housing portion 35 relative to the lower portion 36 is limited by means of suitable stop means, for example as by stop or limit pins 40 which extend into a slot 41 in the wall of the upper housing portion 35. Positioned between movable shoulders 42 and 43 of the upper and lower housing portions 35 and 36, respectively, is an annular seal element 44, preferably a resilient seal which is adapted to be expanded outwardly against the inner Wall of the conductor pipe 20 when pin 37 is sheared and the shoulders 42 and 43 of the telescoping housing portion 35 and 36 move together.

Thetubular housing 35-36 is also provided with suitable anchoring apparatus which is normally carried in a recessed inoperative position within the housing and is extendable outwardly therefrom to engage the inner surface of the conductor pipe 26 so as to prevent at least upward axial movement therein and preferably to prevent movement in either direction.

In one form of the housing anchoring apparatus may be a snap ring 45 carried outwardly on the tubular housing 35 and 36 in a suitable recess in the form of an annular groove 46 therein. The snap ring 45 in its inoperative position would be held in the recess 46 by suitable bolts, preferably in the form of shear pins 47. The snap rings 45 maintain the form of a continuous ring having a radius of curvature greater than that of the tubular housing 35-36 so that it will snap out of the groove 46 when released. Alternatively, the snap ring 45 may be made up of a plurality of snap ring segments or leaf rings having a radius of curvature less than that of the tubular housing 35-36 so that when released, at least the central portion of each snap ring segment 45 would extend beyond the outer surface of the tubular housing 35- 36 and would be extendable into an annular groove or recess 48 formed on the inner wall of the conductor pipe 20 (FIGURE A second annular sealing element 49 is fixedly secured to the tubular housing 35-36 and is of a form and size such that the bore 50 through the sealing element 49 is of a smaller diameter than the bore 51 through the housing 35-36. The size of the bore 50 of the sealing element 49 would depend upon the outside diameter of the pipe which was to be positioned within the fluid diverter assembly of the present invention.

As shown in FIGURE 2 and more clearly in FIGURE 3, an inserting and setting tool, commonly known as a running tool, is carried within the fluid diverter assembly of the present invention at the time it is being installed in the wellhead assembly. The setting tool comprises a tubular housing 52 whose lower end is of a diameter substantially equal to the inner diameter of the tubular housing portion 36 at a point opposite the shear pins 47. Carried within the lower portion of the tubular housing of the setting tool is an axially-slidable piston 53 having an axial opening 54 therein through which fluid can normally be circulated until closed by a ball valve 55 which is adapted to be dropped down through the running string 33 into the tubular housing 52 (FIG- URE 3). In the inoperative position, with the snap ring segment 45 of the fluid diverter assembly retracted in the recesses 46, the shear pins 47 are of a length such that the enlarged heads 56 thereof are positioned on an inwardly-extending shoulder 57 formed on downwardlyextending skirt portion 58 of the piston 53. In FIGURE 3, two downwardly-extending skirt portions 58 and 58a are shown with their respective shoulders 57 and 57a. The slots 59 between the downwardly-extending skirt portion 58 and 5811 are of a size slightly larger than the shear pin or bolt 47 while being smaller than the head 56 thereof.

In the operation of installing the fluid diverter assembly of the present invention in a wellhead assembly, the tubular housing member 35-36 with the setting tool housing 52 positioned therein and secured thereto by means of shear pins 47, is connected to the lower end of a running pipe string 33 on the vessel 11 and is lowered down into the top of the wellhead in any suitable manner well known to the art, preferably by lowering it through a marine conductor pipe 32. As the tool is lowered into the fluid-filled well, fluid is allowed to pass up through the tool through the opening 54 in the piston 53. When the tubular housing 35-36 is in its approximate position within the wellhead and substantially adjacent the groove 48 in the conductor pipe 20, the ball valve 55 is dropped through the pipe string 33 so as to close the fluid port 54. At this time fluid under pressure is pumped down through the pipe string 33 into the tubular housing 52 of the setting tool so as to force the piston 53 downwardly. After the piston 53 is moved downwardly the Width of the head 56 of the shear pin 47, or the width of the seating shoulder 57, the head 56 moves off the shoulder 57 thus allowing the snap ring segment 45 to pull the pin 47 outwardly until its head 46 is in contact with the inner surface of the skirt portion 58 of the piston 53. At this time the snap ring segments 45 extend outwardly, or are extendable outwardly, beyond the outer surface of the tubular housing 35-36. The running pipe string 33 is then reciprocated up and down at the vessel 11 so that the snap ring segments 45 move up and down along the inner surface of the conductor pipe 20 of the wellhead assembly until they engage the seating groove 48 therein. When the snap ring segment 45 snaps into the seating groove 48 it is no longer possible to reciprocate the running string 33 from the vessel 11.

The upper end of the setting tool housing member 52 is provided with an outwardly-extending shoulder 60 adapted to engage a cooperating shoulder 61 formed at the top of the tubular housing member 35-36. The shoulders 66 and 61 are normally in spaced relationship with one another when shear pins 47 are in engagement between the tubular housing 35-36 and the setting tool housing 52.

By applying a downward pressure on the running string 33 which is transmitted to the tubular housing 52 of the setting tool, the shear pins 47 are sheared thus allowing the shoulder of the setting tool 60 to engage the should-er 61 at the top of the telescoping housing portion 35 above the sealing element 44. Continued pressure with the shoulders 60 and 61 in engagement causes the shear pins 37 to shear permitting telescoping action between the portions 35 and 36 of the tubular housing. This telescoping action causes the sealing element 44 to be expanded outwardly against the inner wall of the conductor pipe 2%.

Suitable hold-down means are provided on one of the telescoping sections 35 or 36 so as to hold the sections 35 and 36 in the telescoped position with the sealing element in its fluidtight engagement with the inner wall of the conductor pipe 26 after being set in that position. One form of hold-down means may take the form of a plurality of steel balls 62 positioned in a tapering groove 63 formed in one adjacent surface of a telescoping housing portion, for example, portion 35. When the two housing portions 35 and 36 are telescoped together to expand the packer 44 the balls 62 are readily moved downwardly, but when pressure by the shoulder 69 of the setting tool 52 is released from the shoulder 61 on the telescoping portion 35, the tapering face 63 of the groove wedges the balls 62 against the outer surface of the other telescoping portion 36 thus preventing any axial movement due to the expansion force of the sealing element 44 attempting to regain its original form. *luid ports 64 and 65 may be provided in the setting tool housing 52 to relieve the pressure therein after the piston 53 has moved downwardly. A snap ring 66 below the piston prevents the piston 53 from dropping into the well in the event that an excessive pressure above the piston causes the piston to shear the pins 47.

In FIGURE 4 the fluid diverter assembly of the present apparatus is shown as positioned in a wellhead with another pipe string, such for example as a string of surface casing, positioned therein so that the lower sealing element 49 is arranged in sliding sealing contact therewith so that the surface casing 67 can be moved axially relative to the seal 49. Being thus arranged the well fluid and/ or cement slurry passing upward in annulus, between casings 20, and 67 is caused to be directed through fluid return conduit 23.

We claim as our invention:

1. A fluid diverter assembly adapted to be positioned and anchored in a tubular well member and sealed thereagainst while being adapted to receive and slidingly seal against an inner pipe string, said diverter assembly comprising (a) tubular housing means of a size to fit within said tubular well member, said tubular housing means having a normally open bore therethrough of a size and diameter to permit a drill pipe to rotate when one is inserted therein in spaced relationship therewith,

(b) anchoring means carried by said tubular housing means and extendible beyond the outer surface thereof and adapted to engage the inner wall of said well member,

(c) first annular sealing means carried outwardly on said tubular housing means for sealing against the inner surface of said well member, and

(d) second annular sealing means carried by said tubular housing means and extending radially into the bore thereof a distance suflicient to seal against an inner pipe string when such a pipe string is positioned therein,

(c) said tubular housing means including a pair of telescoping housing portions arranged in spaced relationship with said first annular sealing means carried between them in a normally inoperative and unexpanded condition.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 including stop means carried by at least one of said telescoping housing portions for limiting the movement of said telescoping portions relative to each other.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 including hold-down means carried by at least one of said telescoping housing portions preventing extension of said telescoping housing portions.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 including a removable assembly setting tool carried within the bore of said tubular housing means and operatively connected to said anchoring means of said tubular housing means to hold said anchoring means in a retracted position.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 including shear pin means connecting said anchoring means to said assembly setting tool.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 including shoulder means carried by said assembly setting tool and engageable with a portion of said tubular housing means for moving said portion to expand said first annular sealing means outwardly.

7. A fluid diverter assembly adapted to be positioned and anchored in a tubular well member and sealed thereagainst while being adapted to receive and slidingly seal against an inner pipe string, said diverter assembly comprising (a) tubular housing means of a size to fit within said tubular well member, said tubular housing means having a normally open bore therethrough of a size and diameter to permit a drill pipe to rotate when one is inserted therein in spaced relationship therewith,

(b) anchoring means carried by said tubular housing means and extendible beyond the outer surface thereof and adapted to engage the inner wall of said well member,

(c) first annular sealing means carried outwardly on said tubular housing means for sealing against the inner surface of said well member, and

(d) second annular sealing means carried by said tubular housing means and extending radially into the bore thereof a distance sufficient to seal against an inner pipe string when such a pipe string is positioned therein,

(e) said tubular housing means including a pair of telescoping housing portions arranged in spaced relationship with said first annular sealing means carried between them in a normally inoperative and unexpanded condition,

(f) said anchoring means comprising a plurality of spring-loaded anchor elements adapted to extend outwardly into cooperating recess means formed on the inner wall of a tubular well member when the tubular housing is positioned in such a tubular well member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,182,251 12/1939 Crickmer 166201 X 2,640,542 6/1953 Brown et al 166l36 X 2,913,053 11/1959 Westbrook 166125 X 3,077,227 2/1963 Haeber 7 CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner. 

1. A FLUID DIVERTER ASSEMBLY ADAPTED TO BE POSITIONED AND ANCHORED IN A TUBULAR WELL MEMBER AND SEALED THEREAGAINST WHILE BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE AND SLIDINGLY SEAL AGAINST AN INNER PIPE STRING, SAID DIVERTER ASSEMBLY COMPRISING (A) TUBULAR HOUSING MEANS OF A SIZE TO FIT WITHIN SAID TUBULAR WELL MEMBER, SAID TUBULAR HOUSING MEANS HAVING A NORMALLY OPEN BORE THERETHROUGH OF A SIZE AND DIAMETER TO PERMIT A DRILL PIPE TO ROTATE WHEN ONE IS INSERTED THEREIN IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP THEREWITH, (B) ANCHORING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID TUBULAR HOUSING MEANS AND EXTENDIBLE BEYOND THE OUTER SURFACE THEREOF AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE INNER WALL OF SAID WELL MEMBER, (C) FIRST ANNULAR SEALING MEANS CARRIED OUTWARDLY ON SAID TUBULAR HOUSING MEANS FOR SEALING AGAINST THE INNER SURFACE OF SAID WELL MEMBER, AND (D) SECOND ANNULAR SEALING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID TUBULAR HOUSING MEANS AND EXTENDING RADIALLY INTO THE BORE THEREOF A DISTANCE SUFFICIENT TO SEAL AGAINST AN INNER PIPE STRING WHEN SUCH A PIPE STRING IS POSITIONED THEREIN, (E) SAID TUBULAR HOUSING MEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF TELESCOPING HOUSING PORTIONS ARRANGED IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID FIRST ANNULAR SEALING MEANS CARRIED BETWEEN THEM IN A NORMALLY INOPERATIVE AND UNEXPANDED CONDITION. 